Mail order chicks and bottle lambs

On February 12, the postmaster called at 6:30 am.  "You have a peeping box waiting for you over here" he said.  My chicks had arrived!  Large cardboard boxes were prepared with pine shavings, chick feeders and waterers, a warming light and thermometer.  It was an amazing surprise to see all those little chicks packed together in a small box.  We had 18 Welsummers, and 16 Easter Eggers.  We took them out one by one putting the chick's beak in the water, teaching her to drink.  The chicks stayed in the sunroom in their cardboard brooders for about 2 weeks until they were making too much dust.  After that, they went to the garage in larger brooders made of OSB with hanging feeders and waterers until mid April when they were about 8 weeks old.

As if that weren't enough, a young farmer "gave" us 2 bottle lambs on February 20.  We had started investigating sheep, and decided to purchase a small herd of Katahdins.  He happened to have 2 orphans in need of bottle feeding.  They also lived in the garage for a few weeks.  I'm sure my neighbors thought I had lost my mind (im not sure that I hadn't) especially when the lambs escaped and we chased them through the front yard and into the front door.
 
It was a busy couple of months.  After that, the garage was bleached and scrubbed from top to bottom, and a vow was made to never bring livestock into (this) house again.